“Aware that they were utterly abhorrent to David, the people of ‘Amon sent and hired 20,000 Aram foot soldiers from Beit-Rechov and Tzovah, the king of Ma‘akhah with 1,000 men, and 12,000 soldiers from Tov.”-2 Samuel 10:6
By humiliating King David’s diplomats…
There were no two ways about it…
The King of Ammon had declared full-scale war on Israel…
What does a king do once he’s declared war on another nation?
Why he seeks allies, of course!
Hanun called for help from the Aramean kingdoms up north in what’s now Jordan and Lebanon.
Back then these kingdoms were called Aram Beth-Rechov, Aram-Zovah, Maacah, and Tov.
But in most Bibles, this group of Aramean Kingdoms is collectively called Aram,
In modern terms, it’s the region we’d call Syria today.
Onward.
Next, we’re told the numbers and type of military arsenal Hanun had prepared.
There’s another accounting of this in 1st Chronicles.
But that description focuses more on the type of soldiers rather than the numbers.
The bottom line:
Hanun had assembled one heck of a coalition made up of a ton of cavalry, chariots, and foot soldiers.
These forces of the Syrian armies rallied together at a spot called Medeba.
It was located about two hours southeast of Heshbon, in the land of Reuben.
So here’s your takeaway for today…
And pay attention because it’s an important one.
We’re reading about how a major war is about to break out.
Now, recall how this happened in the first place.
It happened because the King of Israel’s servants were rejected and humiliated.
The diplomats were agents who represented the king.
In Jewish law and theology…
The idea of agency is linked to the concept of Shaliach (שָׁלִיחַ), which means “messenger” or “agent.”
A Shaliach acts on behalf of the one who sent them, carrying the same legal and authoritative weight as the sender.
A famous rabbinic phrase sums it up:
“A person’s agent is like the person himself.”
So when the King of Ammon insulted and rejected the King’s representatives…
It was the same as insulting and rejecting David himself.
Ya see what I’m getting at here?
Now, let’s extrapolate this to the New Covenant.
When the Creator of the Universe sends His Son to a dying and sinful world with the best of intentions…
Yet that Son is despised and rejected.
How do you think the Father is gonna feel about that?
Ya feel me?
Let those who have ears to hear listen!
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Now listen to another parable.
There was a farmer who planted a vineyard.
He put a wall around it,
dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower;
then he rented it to tenants and left.
When harvest-time came,
he sent his servants to the tenants
to collect his share of the crop.
But the tenants seized his servants
— this one they beat up,
that one they killed,
another they stoned.
So he sent some other servants,
more than the first group,
and they did the same to them.
Finally, he sent them his son, saying,
‘My son they will respect.’
But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to each other,
‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him
and take his inheritance!’
So they grabbed him,
threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
Now when the owner of the vineyard comes,
what will he do to those tenants?”
They answered him,
‘He will viciously destroy those vicious men
and rent out the vineyard to other tenants
who will give him his share
of the crop when it’s due.’
Yeshua said to them,
‘Haven’t you ever read in the Tanakh,
‘The very rock which the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone!
This has come from Adonai,
and in our eyes it is amazing’?
Therefore, I tell you that the Kingdom of God
will be taken away from you
and given to the kind of people
that will produce its fruit!”
-Matthew 21:33-43
“No one who denies
the Son has the Father;
whoever acknowledges the Son
has the Father also.”
1 John 2:23
“You killed the author of life,
but God raised him from the dead.
We are witnesses of this.”
-Acts 3:15
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